Sound to Earth,
the company behind Weber mandolins, is one of the most respected
names in the mandolin business. Founded by former employees of Flatiron
and Gibson Montana, Sound to Earth has brought its experience and
talent to bear on a wide range of mandolin-family instruments, winning
renown for its double-edged dedication to clean, tradition-informed
design coupled with innovative engineering. Although the company
is one of the largest domestic mandolin builders, its products all
display the fit, finish, and craftsmanship of handbuilt instruments.
Until 2005, though, I didn’t have a specific reason to
talk about Weber instruments
on this Web site. But that year Vern Brekke, the Sound to Earth
engineer already renowned for the company’s improved bridge and
tailpiece designs, unveiled the Maverick—his take on a 5-string
solidbody electric mandolin.
Every bit as impressive as the other Weber products, the
Maverick continues and extends Sound to Earth’s commitment to tradition
and innovation. The mahogany body and neck, with twin points on
the upper bouts, bring to mind the
Gibson EM200, although a third
body point and a snakehead headstock give the Maverick its own identity.
Innovation shows up in the contoured ebony pickguard, which cleverly
conceals the tone and volume knobs as well as a 3-position coil
switch, affording you the ability to get series, parallel, and single-coil
sounds out of the DiMarzio dual-blade humbucker. Hiding the controls
in this way not only keeps the design cleaner, it also gives the
player unparalleled access to those controls. A simple ebony
tailpiece extends along the bass bout to serve double duty as an
armrest, and the custom-machined bridge is fully adjustable for
intonation. The Maverick comes standard with a simple matte finish,
but I suspect you have only to ask about sunbursts and custom colors.
Diamond fret markers, a 6-point star headstock inlay, and distinctive
Grover nickel tuners finish the look—and of course you get a nicely
padded Weber F-style case with crushed-velvet interior … one of
the nicest-looking cases in the business if you ask me.
Brekke has kept playability in mind at every turn. The
14-inch radiused fretboard and jumbo frets make for clean fingering
work, and should feel comfortable to most mandolin players. The
single-string spacing feels very natural, and allows for easy whole-step
bends if that’s your bag. I was also impressed with the DiMarzio
pickup: strong, balanced signal, minimal noise, and fairly versatile,
thanks to the switch. If I needed to make smooth transitions between,
say, a twangy sound for chords and a beefier one for lead breaks,
the Maverick is an instrument I could quickly grow to love. Without
any effects, its tone is appropriate for jazz, country, or Western
swing. With effects, who knows?
As with nearly every instrument of this type at this scale
length, the C string is a bit wobbly. But only a tiny bit: adjust
the saddle as far toward the tailpiece as possible, then lighten
up your pick attack and make sure your left-hand fingers approach
the string from straight above (not the side), and you’ll find that
you can easily control the C. I must stress that it feels and sounds
a lot better than many other 5-strings of similar dimensions.
At $2,295 retail, the Maverick falls at a high-midrange
price point as electric mandolins go. But for your money, you’re
getting an aesthetically pleasing design that’s also highly functional
and player-proven. I can think of instruments I’ve seen for only
a little less that weren’t quite ready for prime time in terms of
setup and playability. The Maverick, on the other hand, is everything
a solidbody electric mandolin was meant to be—plus a few things
no one had thought of before.